England and Bangladesh set up thrilling first Test finale on day four in Chittagong

England require just two more wickets to avoid suffering a maiden Test defeat to Bangladesh after another truly thrilling day of cricket at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

The Tigers, who suffered a batting collapse yesterday morning (22 October) and faced a deficit of 273 courtesy of an inspiring all-round performance from Ben Stokes, have lost all eight previous contests against their current opponents although remain in contention after reaching stumps on Sunday at 253-8 and needing 33 runs for victory.

Day four did not begin well for England, with Stuart Broad making an errant call to Chris Woakes and ending up being run out by captain Mushfiqur Rahim for 10.

Gareth Batty also fell three overs later to leave the visitors all out for 240 after being trapped lbw by Taijul Islam.

Set a target of 286 victory, Bangladesh made a positive start as Alastair Cook made the rare decision to field two spinners from the off in Moeen Ali and Batty.

Substitute fielder Haseeb Hameed was unable to claim a difficult catch that would have removed Tamim Iqbal, but the left-handed opener then fell for nine when an inside edge off Moeen hit his pad and carried through to Gary Ballance.

Employing something of a one-day mentality, the hosts continued to attack and reached 82 without further loss before Imrul Kayes tried to execute a sweep off the bowling of Adil Rashid but succeeded only in finding the hands of Joe Root.

Next man up Mohammad Mahmudullah continued that cavalier approach and Bangladesh reached lunch at 86-2 still needing 200.

Mominul Haque became the first casualty of the afternoon session when Batty successfully overturned an lbw decision on appeal and the veteran Surrey captain claimed two wickets in just seven deliveries when a similar fate befell Mahmudullah.

Shakib Al Hasan added 24 before being dismissed by Moeen for the second time when his edge was snapped up by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.

Sabbir Rahman survived an umpire's appeal on a stumping from Broad and took the initiative alongside Mushfiqur to help Bangladesh go in for tea only 107 short of their target.

Mushfiqur was then crucially dropped down the leg side by Bairstow, but his reprieve proved to be shortlived when Batty and Ballance engineered a crucial breakthrough to leave the hosts at 227-6.

That dismissal pitted two debutants, Sabbir and Mehedi Hasan, against a 39-year-old Batty who actually made his own Test debut in Dhaka back in 2003, but is making his first appearance since a dominant home win over Bangladesh 11 years ago.

Sabbir performed admirably and brought up his maiden half-century with a four straight down the ground, but Mehedi was only able to add a solitary run before being trapped plumb lbw by Stuart Broad. That was the Nottinghamshire paceman's first wicket of the match and he soon added another when Kamrul Islam Rabbi became the third batsman to find Ballance stationed at short leg.

England were left to rue a late missed opportunity when Stokes was unable to react and haul in a close-range catch off Taijul. The ball ended up flying safely between slip and gully.

A captivating day of Test cricket then reached something of an underwhelming conclusion as bad light brought an early finish to proceedings.

All eyes now shift to the final morning session on day five, when this gripping match will reach its exciting climax. Sabbir's longevity will be crucial if Bangladesh, whose previous highest fourth-innings run chase stands at 217, are to secure only their eighth win in 94 Tests.

England, meanwhile, should be concerned that it is being left to their seam bowlers rather than the spinners to try and wrap up an exhausting victory. That does not bode particularly well ahead of the forthcoming trip to India.